What a refreshing take on the previously visited castle building strategy game. As a follow-up to Stronghold by Firefly Studios, along comes Stronghold Kingdoms. This fairly new free-to-play MMO strategy game drops you feet first into a 14th century medieval universe where it’s up to you to build a dynasty from the ground up. The most intriguing part about this particular game is the social aspect that’s involved. This game is a fantastic combination of strategy games from the past and social interaction which today’s generation has been introduced too. Not only do you need to build up your own community including industrial structures, agriculture and military, but at a much larger scale you’ll need to be able to get along with and work alongside your neighboring teamates. Strategically combining your resources and defenses so that your parish can flourish and so that the parish can have a very strong and powerful castle. Don’t want to join a parish? That’s fine…you can also provide protection or even resources to your neighbors in exchange for a fee.

One of the core aspects of the game is your level of honor shown to you by your citizens. Don’t forget to provide your citizens plenty of work and to also keep them happy with adjustable rations, entertainment and ale. The happier your citizens are, the faster you will gain honor. There are many jobs for your people to hold throughout your community. As you advance throughout the game you will unlock new technologies which will provide the ability further improve your community. Each new level that you achieve will provide the ability to further research each technology providing the tools and knowledge required to improve your honor level.

Stronghold Kingdoms is free to download and also free to play. So you’re wondering what the catch is right? There is no catch, however , if you wish, you do have the opportunity to advance through the ranks by purchasing in-game strategy cards which are used for improving your military, speeding up your research and to augmenting the production of resources. There is really no disadvantage to those who decide to keep their money in their pocket. Just be sure that you become allies with those around you in the event that someone does decide to pillage you. To me, I’d rather just enjoy the game and not put forth any monetary investment.

Overall, I give this game 2 thumbs up. The layout of the game controls are much more comprehensive than similar games that I’ve played. The multi-player feel was very well done. Although the audio was less than what I had expected, I feel that the extra effort put toward game development was an even trade. The gameplay is quite slow, this was exactly what I was looking for in this type of RTS MMO. If you are looking to indulge in a full on strategy experience then this game will be right up your alley…if not then this probably isn’t the game for you.